The winds have changed...

This post is long overdue, I know, but so much has happened over the last month that is has taken me a long time to compile my thoughts and start writing again!

First of all, I am offically finished my Masters degree now as of about 2 weeks ago! I am no longer a student for the time being, and it feels great.

You may be wondering where my race report from the World Championships is, and to be perfectly honestly with you, I am only going to briefly describe it for you here.

I'm generally not a negative person, but I was disappointed after Budapest. Disappointed because the week before leaving for Worlds, my neck was finally feeling better after my crash at the Nationals 3 weeks before. The day after we arrived in Budapest, we jumped in to the local 50m pool for a quick swim. I pushed off the wall after about 300m of swimming and my neck completely went into spasm and then locked up! I was so frustrated, because I felt like I was back to square one after the crash. Anyway, I once again struggled with the swim portion of the race, because my lack of sighting had me swimming extra metres, and I just didn't feel like myself out there. I pushed through it, and got on the bike hoping to make up for some lost time, but guess what? I ended up riding on a slow leak the whole way. When the mechanic looked at it after the race, he said I was riding on 20 PSI. Yikes! The run was the only thing that I truly enjoyed during the race. We ran right along the Danube River for about 5km before crossing the bridge separating Buda from Pest. It was really quite stunning to see the Castle in the backdrop.

Looking back now, I know the race wasn't terrible, but I was just disappointed because the few important races that I did taper for this year resulted in crashes, slow leaks, and other things not in my control. I've had some great breakthoughs in the swim, bike, and run in different races throughout the season, and I just wanted everything to come together! But I know that is the nature of sport, and what makes it so exciting. So enough with the debbie-downer talk and on to some very exciting news...

Because I wanted to end my season on a slightly different note, I've decided to do one more race before I pack it in for the season. So, in less than a week I am flying to Hong Kong to do the ITU Hong Kong Premium Asian Cup!! It still sounds crazy to me that I'm actually going to Asia (I've never been). In fact, it's only from generous people in my life, like John Tsai, my parents, and Ming who are even making this trip and this race remotely possible. Without their generous support, I wouldn't be going, so a very heartfelt thank you to them!

I'm leaving on October 18th and I'll arrive on Hong Kong's Lantau Island on the 19th (see breathtaking picture to the right). I'm staying at the Disney Hollywood Hotel, which is where the transition area is supposed to be set up, so we'll be living at the race site. After the race, and posing for several pictures with Mickey, Minnie, Buzz Lightyear, and everyone else, I'll be boarding a plane to Tai Pei! In addition to this amazing opportunity to race in Hong Kong, I will be spending two more weeks traveling around Taiwan.

Thank you to everyone out that there who has been reading and following me throughout the race season. I greatly appreciate it, and hope that you'll continue. I will be more diligent with my blogging over the next little while!

Leanna